All of us train, attend schools, go to fire shows, discuss scenarios, prepare, purchase apparatus and equipment and for the most part firefighters think that they will never go to many of the types of incidents we watch on the news each day or read about in Firehouse® Magazine. In the last few weeks, however, my department has responded to several working structure fires. Responding on mutual aid as a FAST team, we were redirected to assist in opening up a row of stores. While one crew used a hydraulic door-opening device in the rear, the other firefighters cut roll-down security gates in the front. Although there aren't any roll-down gates in our district, we have read about them and trained for the day we would encounter them.
In the next fire, a man and two infants were sleeping and still inside a well-involved house. Police assisted them from the structure prior to our arrival but primary and secondary searches still had to be made. That is what we are trained for. We always hope that everyone is able to escape safely. Sometimes it hits close to home (see photo above). At an attic fire, tarps were thrown to cover belongings and to limit damage while handlines were positioned to extinguish the fire. Two other private dwelling fires heavily damaged single rooms. Firefighters worked with police at one fire and the arson squad at the other to determine the cause and origin of the blaze. At these fires, tactics, strategy, tools and operations were needed to accomplish the goals of confining, controlling and extinguishing the fire and limiting property damage.
Sometimes the fires burn up and the buildings burn down. After the smoke has cleared and the rooms cooled down, we leave the scene and go back to our fire stations to rehash, discuss and refight the fire, sometimes for years to come. The occupants also discuss and rethink the fire. It's traumatic for them and experience for us. Sometimes it hurts when you see the great stop you made and there is still thousands of dollars of damage you left behind.
At the upcoming Firehouse Emergency Services Expo '97 to be held in Baltimore July 24-27, you can reap the dividends from the nationally known and respected corps of speakers we have assembled for this year's Professional Informational Programs. This is the largest program we have ever offered. A virtual "Who's Who" in the fire service has been assembled to offer you the education on a wide variety of topics that will enable you to do a better job on the fire or emergency scene. We'll also be featuring a tremendous array of apparatus and equipment in the new Baltimore Convention Center. See you there!
